n egg, and brown them in a Dutch oven,
and serve them on relishing rashers of bacon or ham, see No. 527.

For sauce, melted butter, flavoured to the fancy of the eaters, with
mushroom catchup, anchovy, curry-powder (No. 455), or zest (No. 255).

_To poach Eggs._--(No. 546.)

The cook who wishes to display her skill in poaching, must endeavour to
procure eggs that have been laid a couple of days--those that are quite
new-laid are so milky that, take all the care you can, your cooking of
them will seldom procure you the praise of being a prime poacher; you
must have fresh eggs, or it is equally impossible.

The beauty of a poached egg is for the yelk to be seen blushing through
the white, which should only be just sufficiently hardened, to form a
transparent veil for the egg.

Have some boiling water[337-*] in a tea-kettle; pass as much of it
through a clean cloth as will half fill a stew-pan; break the egg into a
cup, and when the water boils, remove the stew-pan from the stove, and
gently slip the egg into it; it must stand till the white is set; then
put it over a very moderate fire, and as soon as the water boils, the
egg is ready; take it up with a slice, and neatly round off the ragged
edges of the white; send them up on bread toasted on one side
only,[338-*] with or without butter; or without a toast, garnished with
streaked bacon (Nos. 526 or 527), nicely fried, or as done in No. 545,
or slices of broiled beef or mutton (No. 487), anchovies (Nos. 434 and
435), pork sausages (No. 87), or spinage (No. 122).

_Obs._--The bread should be a little larger than the egg, and about a
quarter of an inch thick; only just give it a yellow colour: if you
toast it brown, it will get a bitter flavour; or moisten it by pouring a
little hot water upon it: some sprinkle it with a few drops of vinegar,
or of essence of anchovy (No. 433).

_To boil Eggs to eat in the Shell, or for Salads._--(No. 547.)

The fresher laid the better: put them into boiling water; if you like
the white just set,[338-+] about two minutes boiling is enough; a
new-laid egg will take a little more; if you wish the yelk to be set, it
will take three, and to boil it hard for a salad, ten minutes. See No.
372.

_Obs._--A new-laid egg will require boiling longer than a stale one, by
half a minute.

Tin machines for boiling eggs on the breakfast table are sold by the
ironmongers, which perform the process very regularly: in four minutes
the white i